Airts

/ɛːrts/ noun

Definition

Scottish: the plural of 'airt'; directions or compass points.

Etymology

Regular plural of 'airt' using the -s suffix. Scottish dialect from Old English eorðe (earth), with semantic shift toward 'direction' or 'location.'

Kelly Says

Robert Burns used 'airts' in his poetry—when he wrote about 'the four airts,' Scottish readers immediately understood he meant the four cardinal directions, a vocabulary that English speakers had already forgotten.

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